A Plano woman and 10 other Texans have been sentenced to federal prison within the past week for their roles in a mortgage fraud conspiracy that involved inflated home prices, the U.S. attorney’s office announced on Tuesday.

In this scheme, Debra Rush-Santens and others induced lending institutions to fund mortgage loans for residential properties whose values had been fraudulently inflated. The homes then went to buyers who had been fraudulently qualified for loans. In addition, Rush-Santens had HUD-1 forms submitted to lending institutions that falsely stated that the buyers had provided the down payment for the home purchase when Rush-Santens was the source of the down payment.

The scheme between July 2006 and March 2008 involved 31 properties, 19 of them in Frisco, according to court documents.

Rush-Santens worked the scheme through three companies she owned, operated and controlled from her residence in Plano and at her office in Frisco, according to prosecutors. Those companies were Silver Key Financial, LDS Lakehill Developers Group, L.P, and North Texas Developers Group.

Prosecutors say Rush-Santens received the criminally-derived loan funds from the title companies and then provided kickbacks to the others involved.

In one case cited in court documents, Rush-Santens purchased a home on Box Elder Lane in Frisco for $295,000 and then paid the down payment that the lending institution relied on to grant a mortgage loan to one of the other defendants to purchase the home for $417,000.

Rush-Santens was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $6.2 million.

Casey Irons, 42, of Rockwall was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $5.9 million.

Chris Limbrick, 47, of Houston was sentenced to 47 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $4.5 million in restitution.

Gregory Preston, 43, of Cedar Hill was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $3 million in restitution.

Eric Patterson, 36, of Dallas, was sentenced to 25 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution.

Michael Allen, 47, of Houston, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $507,000 in restitution.

Djuana Pitts, 46, of DeSoto was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $5.68 million in restitution.

Patricia Hines, 51, of Cedar Hill was sentenced to 52 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $1.56 million in restitution.

Elliott Scott, 40, of Houston was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $2.14 million in restitution.

Allen Kent Barnett, II, 39, of Rockwall was sentenced to 31 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $3.15 million in restitution.

Jennifer Gipson, 49, of DeSoto was sentenced to 12 months and a day in federal prison.

The former CEO and owner of a Frisco-based company that provided insurance to Virginia Tech students was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in federal prison.

John Paul Gutschlag Sr., 74, of Aubrey had owned and operated GM-Southwest Inc., which was based out of an office on Lebanon Road in Frisco.

He and the company pleaded guilty last year to racketeering, wire fraud and mail fraud. According to court documents, GM-Southwest was a third-party administrator that provides student health insurance. Prosecutors say it overstated claims by more than $1 million to boost profits.

As part of the sentence, Gutschlag and the company were also fined $1.2 million by the government and ordered to pay another $1.2 million in restitution to Virginia Tech.

Gutschlag also faces a civil suit by the Commonwealth of Virginia seeking more than $10 million in damages in connection with this case, according to court documents.

The mother, Pallavi Dhawan, 38, is charged with murder in the death of the couple’s 10-year-old Arnav Dhawan. Police responded to a welfare call at the family’s home last week and found the boy in the tub.

“[Pallavi] knew he was no more,” the father Sumeet Dhawan said. “I think she realized she should have called the cops. And after a while, she realized she could not handle the situation. So maybe I should come handle it.”

Update at 4:25 by Julie Fancher:The mother of the 10-year-old boy found dead Wednesday night confessed to killing him, police said at a Thursday news conference.

Sgt. Brad Merritt said Pallavi Dhawan, 38, has been charged with murder in the death of her 10-year-old son Arnav.

Police said they found Arnav dead in a bathtub in the family’s home in the 1500 block of Mountain View Lane.

Merritt said the boy’s body was wrapped in cloth up to his neck and that there were plastic bags on his body. It is unclear if the bags were empty and why they were in the bathtub.

The boy’s father, Sumeet Dhawan, called police for a welfare check Wednesday, Merritt said. He had been out of town for the last three weeks and was concerned for his wife and son.

He told police he had received an email saying his son had not been to school for the last few days.

When police arrived at the scene they asked Pallavi where her son was. Merritt said she became notably upset and pointed towards a bedroom door.

Officers asked her if the child was in the room and she nodded yes, Merritt said.

When asked if she had killed the child, Merritt said, she also nodded yes.

Police say the cause of death is unclear pending the results of an autopsy. It is also unclear how long the boy had been dead.

Dhawan is being held at the Frisco City Jail. Her bond has been set at $50,000.

Frisco police responded to a home on the 15000 block of Mountain View Lane. (Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News)

Original item posted at 8:15 a.m.: Frisco police have taken a mother into custody in connection with the death of her 10-year-old son.

Officers responded to a welfare call in the 15000 block of Mountain View Lane around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and spoke with the parents and discovered the child was dead, according to police.

His 38-year-old mother was taken into custody and transported to the Frisco Police Department for further investigation, police said.

Police have not filed formal charges and are still investigating the circumstances of the boy’s death. Child Protective Services has no history with the family, a spokeswoman said, but an investigator is working with police now.

The child’s name has not been released, but a neighbor said he was a fifth-grader at Isbell Elementary School. The school sent a letter home to parents informing them that additional counselors would be on hand to help his classmates cope with the loss.

Next-door neighbor Steve Buckley said the first sign of trouble Wednesday night was a firetruck, ambulance and police cruiser showing up.

“Within about 30 minutes we had six police cars out here,” he said. “When six police cars show up, you know something’s wrong.”

Buckley said the family moved in quietly and kept to themselves.

“No one in the neighborhood has ever even met them,” he said. “We never even saw a moving truck. … All of a sudden they were here.”

He said the incident was shocking in what is typically a quiet subdivision.

“It’s very unsettling, especially being next door,” he said. “This is a very quiet neighborhood.”

Frisco police plan to hold a press conference later today to provide an update on the investigation. They ask that anyone with information call 972-292-6010.

Fire investigators are trying to find out what caused the fire at this house in the 700 block of Burr Oak Drive in Frisco early Sunday.

Update at 10:35 a.m.:

The Frisco fire chief, police chief and mayor spoke about the arson investigation at a 10 a.m. press conference on Thursday. Mayor Maher Maso said every resource will be used to find the arsonist and that someone, somewhere must know something, according to NBC 5’s Keaton Fox.

“We are confident we will catch this coward,” Maso said, according to NBC 5.

Fire Chief Mark Piland said the fires seem to be escalating because there were people inside the house near Thursday’s trashcan fire.

Original entry:

Police are investigating the fifth suspicious fire since May this morning in a neighborhood on Frisco’s west side.

The early morning trash can fire scorched the outside of a house in the 600 block of Burr Oak and damaged the electrical and cable services, according to scanner reports. Frisco firefighters responded to a call at about 3:35 a.m. and put out the fire about 10 minutes later.

There is minor damage to the home, according to officials.

Investigators say the fire, in the Grayhawk subdivision, is the fifth suspicious fire there since May 20 and is a block away from a house fire Sunday (pic above). Two of the fires involved homes under construction, one blaze occurred at a furnished home for sale and the fourth fire involved a vehicle early Sunday Morning.

No one has been injured in the fires.

The Frisco Police Department, the City of Denton and the State Fire Marshal’s Office is assisting the Frisco Fire Department in the investigation. Officials ask residents to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity.

A home is badly damaged in the 6100 block of Arlington Drive in Frisco.

William Coleman is being held on $150,000 bail.

Updated at 6 p.m. The Frisco man arrested Tuesday is a former Dallas firefighter who spent four years in prison after beating his girlfriend with a hammer in 2004.

Dallas police records say Coleman had been invited to the 23-year-old woman’s apartment in the 5500 block of East Mockingbird Lane for dinner in November 2004. He became angry after drinking a bottle of wine and taking “two little blue pills” and accused her of cheating on him, she told police.

Coleman punched her in the head several times, covered her mouth and nose with his hands and then put a pillow over her face, according to the report. She screamed. They struggled. Coleman then grabbed a hammer and screwdriver out of a kitchen drawer, held her down and put the screwdriver to her head. He told her, “You’ve got to be quiet, or I’m going to kill you,” according to the police report.

The woman ran out of the house. Coleman, who was nude, followed her with a hammer. When he caught up to her, he struck her several times with the hammer. He dropped the hammer nearby and returned to her apartment. But when he found himself locked out, he broke a window to get in, the police report said. He came back out the window partially dressed and drove off. He was arrested several hours later when he showed up at a hospital for treatment of his injuries.

Authorities found the woman lying in a parking lot covered in blood. She was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Coleman was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to four years in prison and was released in November 2009, according to state prison records.

Coleman had been working as a Dallas firefighter since October 1999 but lost his job after his arrest.

Update at 10:45 a.m.: Police arrested an armed man who they say set his fiancee’s home on fire during an overnight standoff with police.

William Chad Coleman, 38, is being held in the Frisco Jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Arson charges are pending, police said

Officers were called to the home on Arlington Drive shortly before 10 p.m. Monday after Coleman’s fiancee told them that he had chased her from the house and pointed a gun at her. She drove to the police department, while Coleman remained at the house, police said.

Police later saw Coleman carrying firearms inside the home. Sgt. Brad Merritt said Coleman threatened to come out of the house “blazing fire.”

As the standoff continued, police heard several small explosions in the garage and windows shattering throughout the home.

Coleman surrendered after the fire started and was briefly hospitalized with smoke inhalation injuries. Nobody else was hurt.

Original entry:

A Frisco home’s roof and walls were reportedly blown off according to several news reports early Tuesday morning.

Police officers are still at the scene at 6000 block of Arlington Drive and most of the fire department units have left, reports KDFW-TV (Channel 4). There have been no reports of injuries. Authorities have not provided information about the cause of the fire or if they suspect arson.